This is sort of a real post.
Last Sunday we ran the 8k "fun run" of the Istanbul Eurasia Marathon. When I say "we," I mean a whole mess o' exchange students from the US (and one from Dublin!) and about 2,000,000 Turks. If you imagine that scene in LOTR TT when the Orc (or is the Uruk-hai? I mean, they turn away when Gandalf shines the light from his staff, but they were made by Saruman, so I guess maybe it was a mix?) army is descending on Helm's Deep, it was sort of similar to that... except for the smell, I imagine. And I doubt there were really cute Turkish kids at Helm's Deep.
The race started at 9:30, so that means we had to get up at 5:30. God I wish that was a typo, but we had to catch a 7 am shuttle to A DIFFERENT CONTINENT to make it there in time. I hadn't met some of the exchange students we were running with, so the ride over was a good chance to test the limits of my small-talking capabilities. I figured that if I enjoyed their company as rain made the already-way-too-early morning even more annoying, I'd probably enjoy it even more under more favorable conditions. Turns out I was right.
The registration for this race had ended a few days before I found out about it, so we were just going to scab it (is that a real term?) and see what happened. Andrew (from Indy) said that we wouldn't be able to cross the finish line and might get kicked out, but it didn't end up going down like that. What we perceived to be a well-organized and unique race (remember that word) was apparently perceived differently by the Turkish. I say this because whereas the previous "fun runs" that I've participated in have had, say, people running, this one was more a chance to hang out with your friends and family on a Sunday morning.
No really, it was like being on a very busy sidewalk that happened to be 6 lanes wide. People were walking both directions, vendors were selling food and umbrellas, and this guy was there:
The IEM is the only marathon in the world that spans two continents, and since the 8k follows the same route, many people take this opportunity to stage photo-ops on the Bosphorus bridge. It's closed the other days of the year, meaning that even the rain couldn't keep the throngs of Istanbulites away. Despite the crowd, cramps, and rain, Andrew and I decided to actually run the 8 god damn k's, and were rewarded with a medal, a too-big-for-me t-shirt, and a certificate of completion at the end. Not bad for an early morning. If you ever think you can't cover 5 miles at once, realize that that thought didn't occur to this woman:
It was really a great experience, one that I'll remember for a long time. Other stuff has been happening, but most of my time is spent thinking of ways to battle the Turkish bureaucracy, or playing handball. TEAM handball. Like you used to play in PE, but now with really big guys who use strategy and stuff. I'm easily the worst player on the court at all times.
